The goal of this project is to develop methods studying the biochemistry of mitosis and cell division based on the isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive mitotic mutants in a sample eukaryote, Aspergillus nidulans. The objective is to describe nuclear division, chromosome condensation and the mitotic spindle in biochemical terms by identifying and purifying the macromolecules and co-factors involved and by reconstructing in isolated nuclei in vitro as many of the component systems of mitosis as possible. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Morris, N. R. (1977). A comparison of chicken erythrocyte and chicken liver chromatin. Cell 9, 627-632. Lipps, H. J., Morris, N. R. (1977). Chromatin structure in the nuclei of the ciliate Stylonychia mytilus. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 74, 230-234.